Oregon State 52nd District Representative Anna Williams says she will not seek re-election.  In a Facebook post, Williams said being a state legislator has been the “greatest honor of my professional life.”  But she also says the state treats it as a part time job, but “it’s a full time role for anyone who wants to get it right.”  Williams said with the $33,000 base salary state lawmakers receive, it’s not sustainable for her to continue.  Williams has represented the 52nd District in the Oregon House for past four years.  Four candidates have filed to run in the 52nd District that now includes The Dalles.  The Dalles City Councilor Darcy Long is the only Democrat to have filed so far, and Jeff Helfrich, who twice lost to Williams in the general election, is one of the three Republican hopefuls.

The Washington State Senate has given unanimous approval to a bill sponsored by 14th District Representative Gina Mosbrucker directing the Department of Commerce and the Utilities and Transportation Commission to hold yearly resource adequacy meetings through 2029 with utilities, regional planning organizations and other stakeholders to discuss the current, short-term and long-term adequacy of energy resources.  The Goldendale Republican says the meetings are designed to make sure the state continually addresses plans that would help avoid energy blackouts, brownouts or other inadequacies of the electric grid.  The meetings would also focus on how proposed laws and regulations that seek to accelerate the electrification of buildings and transportation electrification charging stations might require a new state policy for resource adequacy.  The bill previously passed the House with a unanimous vote.  It now heads to the governor for his signature.

Oregon Class 1A Boys Basketball Tournament at Baker City

Quarterfinals

South Wasco 59. Rogue Valley Adventist 58:  Oscar Thomas made a free throw with seven seconds left to cap a comeback after the Redsides trailed by ten points with just over five minutes to play.  Thomas scored 11 points and Remington Anderson Shear five as part of a closing 17-6 run to grab the win.  Thomas scored 27 points in the game, while Ian Ongers tallied 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.  Kyle Wilson led Rogue Valley Adventist with 14 points.  South Wasco stays unbeaten on the season at 23-0, and will play Powder Valley in the semi-finals on Friday afternoon at 3:15.

Oregon State University Extension’s Master Naturalist will be offering a Gorge field course this spring and summer program.  OSU Extension’s Ann Harris says the Master Naturalist program teaches the natural history of the entire state and the Gorge area, and the students then share what they learn with others.  The field-based portion of the course involves going out with local experts to engage in hands-on experiences in all of the major ecosystems in the Gorge.  An information session will be held via Zoom on March 11 at 6 p.m.  Log-in information is available at the OSU Extension websites for Hood River and Wasco counties.

North Wasco County School District 21 kicked off an effort to develop a strategic plan for the next five years.  At a short public meeting on Tuesday night, D-21 Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Bernal said the plan will guide decision making and investments.  The district plans to develop focus groups to meet via Zoom in the next two weeks made up of teachers, staff, families, students, and community partners.  Sign-ups for those groups will be available at the D-21 website, nwasco.k12.or.us.  A ten-to-fifteen question community survey will also be on the website from March 7 to April 1, and a community forum will take place in the spring or summer.  The goal is to have a strategic plan put together this summer.  Public Consulting Group has been brought on by the district to help facilitate the effort.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has approved an $80,000 grant to support the development of a community response plans in Wasco County for communicating about smoke from prescribed fire, agricultural burning, home woodstove and pile burning, wildfire, and other smoke sources.  OSU Extension will be the lead local agency to develop the plans.  Extension’s Lauren Kraemer says they also have received a $10,000 grant from the OHSU Knight Cancer Foundation to purchase ten air quality monitors to install at orchards in Wasco and Hood River counties, with a hope they will be hooked into the County’s emergency communication systems.  Because the funds must be received by a county government, the Wasco County Commission approved an intergovernmental agreement for the project with OSU Extension.

There will be single-lane closures of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge beginning at 8:30 on Thursday morning and continuing until work is complete, estimated to be around 5:30 p.m.  Port of Hood River officials say the single lane closure is required as the work will involve use of an inspection truck that will travel along the length of the bridge throughout the day to provide worker access underneath the bridge structure.  Flaggers will be on the bridge directing traffic around the moving work zone.    Motorists should expect delays of 20 to 40 minutes depending on traffic volume.

Mid-Columbia Medical Center has named two new members to its board of trustees.  One is former The Dalles City Manager Nolan Young, who recently retired as Fairview’s City Manager and continues to live in The Dalles.  The other is Suzanne Knapp, who recently served as Maupin City Councilor for two terms and is currently the chair of the board of directors for the White River Health District and Deschutes Rim Clinic Foundation where she is overseeing the capital campaign for and construction of a new clinic.  The MCMC board of trustees has elected Vice Chair Robb Van Cleave to serve as Board Chair to succeed Phil Brady, who has resigned to run for Wasco County Commission.  Brady served on the board for 7 ½ years, the last three as Board Chair.  Van Cleave has been part of the board for the past two years.  

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon added additional white sturgeon retention days in Bonneville Pool and The Dalles Pool as catch rates slowed in February and harvest was lower than expected.  Wednesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 16 were added to the season for the Bonneville Pool from Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam.  For The Dalles Pool from The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays in the month of March were added.  Fishery managers had closed sturgeon retention fishing in Bonneville Pool in late January because catch projections indicated the harvest guideline was close to being met.  It was later determined that the actual harvest was lower than expected so additional opportunity can be added without exceeding allowable catch.  Catch rates in The Dalles Pool slowed significantly in February and overall catch is well below original projections, so additional opportunity can be added.  This is the second extension for the 2022 sturgeon fishery in The Dalles Pool.

A controversial bill to create overtime pay for farmworkers passed the Oregon House on Tuesday on a party-line vote.  The bill would phase in overtime pay, setting maximum hours without paying time-and-a-half at 55 per week through 2024, 48 per week the following two years, and 40 in 2027 and beyond.  Farms would be eligible for personal and corporate income tax credits to help offset added costs, with sponsoring Democrats claiming it is structured to support smaller farms, and opposing Republicans calling it tax breaks for large, out-of-state corporate farms.  Bill sponsor Representative Paul Holvey of Eugene says the bill will grant farmworkers protections they have long been denied, while opponent Representative Daniel Bonham of The Dalles said the proposal will result in job losses for farm workers.  The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.